Kelly Curtis, Sister of Jamie Lee Curtis, Dead at 69

Photo: Brian To/FilmMagic

Kelly Curtis, daughter of Tony Curtis and sister of Jamie Lee Curtis, died at the age of 69. Jamie Lee confirmed her sister’s death on Instagram on May 30, writing, “A warm aloha to my older sister, Kelly Lee Curtis. She passed away this morning. In her home. In nature. At peace. She was my first friend and lifelong confidant. She was jaw droppingly beautiful, and a talented actress. She played a mean game of hearts, collected turtles, loved her family, nature, music, thrifting, travel, Facebook, and Pokémon Go. She was proud of her Danish roots and Hungarian Jewish ancestry and was a devoted American patriot.” Kelly was the oldest child of Tony and Janet Leigh. She had a brief acting career, including a starring role in the film The Devil’s Daughter, and worked as an assistant to her sister on some of her sister’s films, such as Freaky Friday.

More recently, Kelly moved on to directing documentaries like Marby Jets Are Go, a doc about an Australian high school track team, and Curling in Stanley, which follows the first curling tournament in Stanley, Idaho.